Thursday Roundup: ChinaCache, Equinix, BroadSoft, 8×8

Following up on last week's announcement of an internet exchange in mainland China, ChinaCache has revealed that it will be selling off a majority interest in the entity that will be owning and operating both that exchange and the data center it will run in. In a PR whose title seems to contradict its text, Chinacache said it has entered into agreements to sell 60% of ChinaCache Xin Run Technology to Tianjin Shuishan Technology Co., Ltd., KPIW (Beijing) Investment Fund Co., Ltd. and Tianjin Dingsheng Zhida Technology Co., Ltd for a total of RMB375M. Following the trail of ownership of US-traded Chinese assets is tricky business, so buyer beware.

Also on the exchange front, Equinix's Cloud Exchange has a new partner on the buyer side of things. EarthLink has signed on and will be leveraging the exchange to supply cloud connectivity for its enterprise customers. Equinix has helped EarthLink to develop an API to enhance its customer with real-time information on cloud connectivity.

BroadSoft has integrated its UC platforms with MicroSoft Office 365, leveraging Microsoft's SDKs. The new integration makes BroadWorks, BroadCloud, and UC-One compatible with the office suite in a variety of ways. That certainly can't hurt BroadSoft's range of capabilities.

And also on the cloud communications front, 8x8 has picked up an enterprise customer. Bailey International, a manufacturer of hydraulic components used in a variety of industries, has picked 8x8's Virtual Office and Virtual Call Center technologies to power its voice needs. The upgrade is said to have cut call answer times by 10-15% and dramatically reduced call abandonment rates.